Officials are probing how a 51-year-old highway bridge came to collapse in the Italian port city of Genoa yesterday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 16 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Nicaraguan miners rescued 24 hours after cave-in

Emergency workers in Nicaragua have rescued 20 miners who had been trapped deep underground for more than 24 hours after a cave-in at an unlicensed gold mine, but five more workers are still missing.

"We give thanks to God our Lord and the Virgin Mary for having saved from death 20 artisanal miners," First Lady Rosario Murillo, the government's official spokeswoman, told reporters.

Using a pulley system rigged through a narrow tunnel, the emergency crews first rescued two miners named Roger Darse and Abel Herrera, according to a broadcast of the official TV channel 8 from the site of the collapse.

There had been 28 "guiriseros," or informal gold miners, working in the shaft when the mouth of the mine caved in because of a landslide triggered by heavy downpours, early Thursday morning.

Two workers buried near the surface had earlier managed to dig their way out after the collapse in the remote village of El Comal in northeastern Nicaragua, according to the local disaster prevention committee.

Several of the Nicaraguan miners are still missing. (Getty) (Getty)

But some 20 more became trapped in the mine shaft 800m underground, said Ms Murillo, after being briefed by officials coordinating the desperate rescue effort.

Authorities had said they were trying to confirm whether any miners had died, noting that the incident happened in a hard-to-reach area with poor communication.